Generally, positional information may be an identifier for cells in a wireless communications system. Positional information provides a way to geographically locate User Equipment (UE) wirelessly connected to cells in a wireless communications system. Positional information may be useful for features such as location-based services which allow a user, service provider, content provider, advertiser, and so on, to filter or adjust content based on the location of the user, for example. Positional information may also be useful for emergency services, such as for locating a user in the event of an emergency.
Positional information may be terminal based (global positioning system, observed time difference, or so on) or network based (CGI, time of arrival, or so forth). Network based positional information makes use of network specific information to derive positional information for a user. For example, CGI may make use of information related to a cell that is serving a UE to determine the location of the user.
The positional information, e.g., CGI, may be used to generate an automatic neighbor relationship (ANR), which may be used by planning tools for neighbor assignment, automatic discovery, controlling neighbor relations using blacklisting and whitelisting, for example.
A prior art technique for determining CGI may involve a UE making air-interface measurements to assist in determining CGI. However, not all UEs may support the air-interface measurements. Additionally, determining CGI from the air-interface measurements may take a significant amount of time, especially when operating conditions are poor. Therefore, there is a need for alternatives in determining CGI.